Thymia听has听raised a 拢780,000听pre-seed round to scale its platform to assess for and monitor depression.听听
The听technology听removes subjectivity from mental health assessments: instead of answering questionnaires, patients play specially designed videogames听which use cutting-edge Neuropsychology, Linguistics and Machine Learning to detect signs of depression, as well as monitor whether symptoms are improving or worsening over time.听听
Through its online platform,听Thymia听will empower clinicians to make听faster and more accurate clinical decisions by making mental illness as objectively measurable as visible physical conditions.听
Kodori听AG and Calm/Storm co-led this round, which was also joined by Form听Ventures and included backing from Entrepreneur First.听
Co-founded by neuroscientist Dr Emilia听Molimpakis听and theoretical听physicist Dr Stefano Goria,听Thymia听was created after a close friend of Emilia鈥檚 developed depression.听听
鈥淭hymia听was born when a close friend of mine tried to take her own life. Her friends and听doctors missed the signs that she was so seriously unwell, not least because the process of accessing the right treatment was based on out-dated methodologies not fit for the complexities and nuances of an illness like depression,鈥� she said.听
鈥淒epression is a massive, constantly growing societal and economic problem; it is a leading听cause of disability and suicides and costs the UK economy billions annually in lost productivity.听听
鈥淐OVID-19 has further compounded the issue, unleashing a mental illness 鈥榯sunami鈥� due to a lack of in-person appointments, but also its harsh societal effects –听social isolation, employment loss, bereavement and grief.听听
鈥淒espite this, GPs and psychiatrists are using the same diagnostic questionnaires that听have been around since the 1960s. Rating how sad you feel on a scale of 0 to 3 simply is not enough to capture the subtle nuances of early signs of depression nor track the complexities of ongoing mental illness, but our clinicians have not been given a better听option.鈥�听
Thymia听provides them with a more accurate, faster process for assessing and monitoring major depression.听听
Emilia and Stefano, who is an expert in explainable, multi-modal听AI, have carefully created video game-style activities and challenges for patients to interact with, such as verbally describing animated scenes or interacting with moving objects.听听
Whilst users complete the games, the听Thymia听software anonymously analyses听voice听(both how someone speaks and听what they are saying),听video听(micro-expressions and听eye-gaze)听and听behavioural听measures听(reaction times and error rates).听
The software then identifies data patterns indicative of depression听to help pinpoint a diagnosis more quickly and accurately.听听
Crucially, it will also show if any treatments听鈥撎齱hether听therapies or medications听鈥撎齛re听working.听听
Thymia听is gathering rich data from hundreds of subjects with major听depressive disorder and a normative control group to ethically and inclusively train their AI.听听
They听says听they听are removing the racial, gender and age biases typically associated with AI models to make their assessments as accurate and objective as possible.听
They have already established collaborations and partnerships with several world-leading research institutes,听including UCL and King鈥檚 College London, to help scale use of the technology to other cognitive disorders.听听
Lucanus听Polagnoli, Founder and Managing Partner at Calm/Storm,听said:听鈥淲e鈥檙e very excited about听Thymia. It鈥檚 going to听bring the same level of objectivity to mental health that we expect in the realm of physical health.听听
鈥淓milia听and听Stefano impressed us from day one with their passion, academic prowess, and rigorous commitment to building a truly inclusive mental health tool.”听
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